Time Is Relative!

Curious about how NASA will land the next mission to the Red Planet – the Perseverance Mars rover? Here’s your chance to ask our expert! 

After nearly 300 million miles, our Perseverance rover completes its journey to Mars on Feb. 18. To reach the surface of the Red Planet, it has to survive the harrowing final phase known as Entry, Descent, and Landing. Mission engineer Chloe Sackier will be taking your questions in an Answer Time session on Thursday, Feb. 4 from noon to 1pm ET here on our Tumblr! Make sure to ask your question now by visiting http://nasa.tumblr.com/ask. 

Chloe Sackier is a systems engineer at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) in Southern California. She works on the Mars 2020 Entry, Descent and Landing team, tasked with safely delivering the Perseverance rover to the surface of Mars.

Landing Perseverance on Mars – fun facts: 

The landing system on the mission includes a parachute, descent vehicle, and an approach called a “skycrane maneuver” for lowering the rover on a tether to the surface during the final seconds before landing.

Perseverance will use new technologies for landing, including Terrain-Relative Navigation. This sophisticated navigation system allows the rover to detect and avoid hazardous terrain by diverting around it during its descent through the Martian atmosphere. 

A microphone allows engineers to analyze entry, descent, and landing. It might also capture sounds of the rover at work, which would provide engineers with clues about the rover’s health and operations.

Make sure to follow us on Tumblr for your regular dose of space: http://nasa.tumblr.com.

The Spin NBA LeBron eyeing former teammates for Lakers in free agency

Senior NBA Insider Chris Haynes reports the Lakers and LeBron James are looking to reunite the king with a couple familiar shooters.

NHK, a Japanese news program, has revealed documents from Satoshi Tajiri’s original pitch to Nintendo for Pokemon, which was called Capsule Monsters at the time. The 1990 portfolio was illustrated by Ken Sugimori, who went on to become the art director for the Pokemon series.

Creamy tomato chicken recipe

Autumn Blues

The Ottoman siege of Constantinople in 1453 as portrayed in a French painting around the same time. The city of Constantinople, which had been impregnable to sieges for centuries due to its position on a peninsula and massive walls, fell after 53 days. The fall of the city marked a change in military tactics, as Ottoman cannons proved able to bring down even the famed walls of Constantinople.

{WHF} {HTE}

Detective Pikachu dancing!